I couldn’t help myself and started playing Beyonce’s song “Upgrade U” when I saw my GrandCentral account was ready to be upgraded to Google Voice!  Ignore the Beyonce slideshow; it’s just here for the music clip.

Google Voice Migration Login Page

Now here I had a really big choice.  I could associate this Google Voice service with one, just one, Google account.  I personally have two Google accounts; one is my adria.richards@gmail.com and the other is my Google Apps account where Google hosts my domain email and a slew of other cool stuff for my domain name.  That one is adria.richards@adennetworks.com.

I put it to Twitter on which one I should use and then decided to use my domain email.  Thinking that there will soon be a browser plugin to tie Google Voice to phone numbers in Firefox just like Skype has, this makes sense so I can just click on phone numbers on websites and in my email.

(P.S. – Adria, aren’t you afraid of spam harvesters taking your email address?  Why not do adria dot richards at gmail dot com like other folks do?  Answer – Google’s Gmail service already had awesome spam filtering…then Google went and bought up Postiniwhich was the world leader in spam filtering.  There is simply no need to “protect” email addresses when you have a gmail or Google Apps account.  My $0.02.  I get less than 1 spam email in my inbox a month.  That has been pretty consistant in Gmail since I started using it in 2004.)

My Voicemails are Migrating…

When my voicemail moves over, I will review the other features in Google Voice

Enable Voicemail Transcription

Goodbye Jott.  Won’t miss you much now.  Transcription is an awesome service for many, many people.  If you have not tried out Google’s free 411 service 1800-411-4664 (GOOG), try it to hear how well the voice recognition software picks up what you’re saying.  Sometimes it’s been amazing, sometimes not.  I expect that Google will improve and tweak the transcription quality the more we use it…just like all their services.

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Google Voice Tells Me My Friend is Injured!

Ok, reading this transcribed voicemail from Google Voice was a bit worrysome. It indicates my friend is hurt! He’s actually ok but this could be worrisome for folks using this service.

it’s greg i just wondered if you had a little time to talk gimme a call back if you want if you have a little bit sorry ten for six three months here for an hour or so and then i’ll be back today i can’t walk so give me a holler when you get this message it’s peg thanks a lot

I was able to embed the Google Voice voicemail into my WordPress MU (Multi User) install by using this Unfiltered MU plugin to turn off the html stripping. I have not tested this in stand alone versions of WordPress yet.
This will also be a lifesaver for people who are hearing impaired like my A+ technology student, Shawn, who had hearing and sight problems (related to being a Veteran from the war?).  It was really hard for him to find a computer gig because he really couldn’t hear too well on the phone.  Plus he had nowhere to pickup messages.

I am thinking the GrandCentral tradition of Project CARE will continue with Google Voice.  Project CARE would give out phone numbers to people who were homeless or in transisitional housing.  I thought that was awesome!!!  Transcription will be a huge boon for people like my technology student, Shawn.  It will also be a lifesaver for those who don’t have access to a phone but can check email from an internet cafe or the library!

Right now, the service in Minneapolis/St. Paul has some really restrictive rules where folks struggling with homelessness can lose their “temporary voicemail number” if they don’t check it often enough.  Also, they can’t keep messages very long.  Once Google Voice relaunches, I’m going to contact Project Homless Connect Minneapolis and ask them to hook up for better service to those who need it.  Last year I “manned” the computer lab with other volunteers, typed up a bunch of resumes and helped some guests get services.  That’s when I saw the process for getting one of these “temporary” phone numbers and just kept thinking about GrandCentral opening it’s doors again…

Send SMS, Receive SMS? Maybe

Hoop hah! This will be really nice. I don’t like checking text messages on my cell phone because the buttons make replies take a full 5 minutes (Note, don’t choose the Samsung Beat at the Tmobile store)

Navigation

This looked nice but I can’t really say anything until my messages migrate over

Welcome Message

This visually looks nicer than GrandCentral.  I have seen people complaining on Twitter that the interface is slow.  I’m sure Google Gears will be applied for offline use soon.

Twitter Thoughts on Google Voice

First Google Voice Transcription Test

Update 3/18/2009 11:12am CST